The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These one-bowl buttermilk pancakes are a weekend staple. The recipe yields a ton, and the end result is fluffy pancake heaven! 🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞
Over the weekend, I said goodbye to my electric griddle, a gadget I’ve had for over a decade, one I’ve loved and hated over the years for various reasons: loved for its large, flat surface and, um, well, that’s really it.
My electric griddle is big and cumbersome, awkward to find space to both use and stow. For 10 years I’ve used it solely for pancakes, which has been reason enough to hang on to it because I find cooking pancakes in skillets tricky — even in my largest skillet there isn’t enough space to maneuver a spatula around more than three pancakes.
But over the weekend, I finally thanked my griddle for its service then said sayonara. What sparked this civilized departure? It was the Baking Steel griddle, a slab of thick-gauge steel designed for both stovetop and in-oven use. Yes, this griddle doubles as a pizza Steel — it’s 10 lbs. heavier than the original Baking Steel, which means it will make your oven behave even more like a wood-fired hearth.
I have been experimenting with this gadget for several weeks now, making pancakes for the kiddos, breakfast tacos for Ben and me, and English muffins for us all. What I love is not only its versatility but its shape and design — it takes up no extra space to use because it sits on the stove top; it takes up little space when it’s stowed because it measures about 1/2-inch in thickness even when it’s tucked into its awesome storage sleeve.
The Baking Steel griddle’s uses extend far beyond the dishes I am showing here, however: check out Serious Eats’ Kenji Lopez-Alt’s exhaustive research in this post. Food and Wine was equally impressed.
The Baking Steel griddle is available for order now.
Before we get to the giveaway, let’s discuss these pancakes. Pancakes have never been my forte, but for about a year now, I’ve had success with the kitchn’s lofty buttermilk pancakes, which are delicious and relatively simple to make. The peculiar trick to making these pancakes is that you separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, then incorporate the yolks into the batter before the whites. The whites are never beaten. It’s odd but oddly it works — the pancakes never taste so good as when I follow the kitchn’s method.
That said, this method requires three bowls: one for the dry ingredients, one for the yolks, buttermilk, milk and butter, and one for the whites. This, for me, first thing in the morning is too many, and because I’ve found that when I use one bowl or three my children are none the wiser, I stick to one: I whisk the eggs directly into the dry ingredients as though I am making pasta, then add the milk and buttermilk, and finally the butter. Because I melt the butter in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave then transfer it directly to the dishwasher, I don’t consider it a dish — that’s fair, right?
These pancakes have become a family fave and, with the griddle on hand, a weekly staple. The batter makes enough for a ton of pancakes and stores just fine in the fridge…sure, it turns a little grey overnight, but again, the little ones don’t mind.
For this pancake batter, incorporate the eggs into the dry ingredients as though you are making pasta dough:
Then add the milk and buttermilk and finally the melted butter:
A pancake breakfast is a happy breakfast…
The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18-20 three-inch pancakes
Description
Adapted from the kitchn’s recipe for lofty buttermilk pancakes. The recipe below differs only by method not by ingredients. Check out the kitchn’s post if you want to try their egg-separating method — don’t worry, you don’t have to beat any whites!
When cooking these pancakes on the Baking Steel griddle, I suggest heating your griddle before you begin making your batter. I have a flat-top cooking surface, and I have the best results warming the griddle up slowly over low to medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. If you have a gas range, you will be able to control the temperature better.
Finally, the best trick I’ve learned for cooking pancakes is to go small — I use my 2-tablespoon measuring cup to portion out batter. The pancakes cook quickly and evenly when I use this small scoop.
If you want to use sourdough discard in this recipe, simply cut back some of the flour and water, preferably by weight. So, for example, if you want to use 100 grams of sourdough discard (at 100% hydration) in this recipe, cut back 50 grams of the flour and 50 grams of the buttermilk. That would call for using 270 grams of flour and 418 grams of buttermilk.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (320 g) flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 g) salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (468 grams) buttermilk
- 1/2 cup milk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Canola or peanut oil for frying
Instructions
- If using a Baking Steel griddle, begin warming it up over low heat.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat with a fork till the eggs are whisked and incorporated into the surrounding flour, as if you were making pasta. Add the buttermilk and milk, and stir with spatula to combine. Add the melted, cooled butter and stir until combined.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, film with a thin layer of oil. After about 30 seconds, when the oil shimmers but is not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and use a soup spoon (I have a one-eighth cup (2 T) measuring cup, which I love for pancakes) to drop in heaping spoonfuls of pancake batter. Note: If you are using a BS griddle, adjust heat so griddle radiates heat and feels hot but not smoking — this takes just a teensy bit of practice.
- The batter will spread into a pancake about 3 inches wide. Cook for about 2 1/2 minutes. (If the pancake scorches or the oil smokes, lower the heat.) When the bubbles that form on the edges of the pancakes look dry and airy, use a thin spatula to gently lift one side and peek underneath. If the pancake is golden brown, flip and cook on the other side for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown.
- Transfer to a cooling rack briefly before serving. Scrape any stray crumbs or scraps out of the skillet, add a little more oil, and continue to cook the remaining batter.
Notes
Recipe Notes from the kitchn:
- If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can use plain yogurt instead. Just use about 2/3 cup and thin it with some milk until it reaches the 1 cup mark. You can also quickly make a buttermilk substitute by mixing 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar with 2 cups of milk.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
418 Comments on “The BEST One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes”
My favorite one-bowl recipe is chocolate chip cookies—don’t bother mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately!
I had to toss my electric griddle and wanted to replace it with something else but haven’t known what. This might be the answer. The kids miss pancakes.
I love to make one bowl Brownies! The baking steel looks awesome and so do your pancakes by the way 🙂
My fiance will tell you that I cannot make anything with only one bowl. All of my recipes require all of the available bowls in the house. But, a dutch baby gets pretty close, so I will say that is my favorite one bowl meal.
chocolate chip cookies are a one-bowl dish, right? cause that would be my answer. 🙂
One-bowl dishes are just about all I’m willing to do anymore – I’ll adapt any recipe if I think I can get away with it. I think the Steel Griddle would be great for making tortillas!
Quesadillas are the easiest dish to make with little mess for a quick dinner. Not one bowl, but one plate at least. We also love one pot chicken alfredo.
This griddle looks pretty darn awesome.
I have been making your peach frangipani tart a ridiculous amount!!! I dream about it ALL the time it is SO good. The tart dough is amazing and comes out great!! Yay butter!! I have even made a savory tart using your dough recipe.
It’s okay to like flour tortillas. I also prefer a flour tortilla., even though ithey are * gasp* flour.The corn ones seem a bit rubbery and I haven’t learned the right tricks for cooking with them. My most recent quesadillas using Corn tortillas required a good amount of sawing on the finished product to get it into pieces!!! Yikes!! They weren’t burnt just really really chewy.
My very favorite one bowl recipe would have to be banana bread. Quick, easy and I have the ingredients already in the kitchen!
i have a one bowl sour cream lemon cookie recipe that’s just amazing!
We make ramen regularly, and it serves us well as a one-bowl meal. A quick, tasty dinner with very little cleanup.
There is seriously nothing better than fluffy buttermilk pancakes drenched in syrup! These look so simple and delicious. Thanks for sharing.
My closest to one bowl would be my granola recipe. I have a larger than life mixing bowl and it all goes in there both to mix the ingredients and to break it up and add fruit once it’s cooked and cooled. I am making this pancake recipe and that steel looks so awesome!
Homemade brownies! So easy to mix up in one bowl.
This griddle looks amazing. I’ve been wanting an electric one, because my mom’s pancakes on her griddle turn out so much better than the ones I make in a skillet, but, I love how many more uses this Baking Steel has. It’ll be on my Christmas list!
My favourite one bowl recipe is a fresh salsa, usually with tomato, white onion, jalapenos, cilantro, oil and lime juice. The bowl is for gently tossing it all together.
My favorite one bowl meal would have to be a quick cooking paella. The only requirement is spanish yellow rice, the rest is flexible to whatever proteins and veggies you have on hand! My favorite is shrimp and chicken with fire roasted tomatoes, onions, peppers and peas!
My favorite one bowl dish is my grandma’s famous butterscotch bars.
My favorite one bowl dish is something you mentioned in your post – fresh pasta! I guess technically just the dough because you need a pot of boiling water to cook it, but close enough.
I make a one-bowl banana bread that is amazing. Such a heartwarming treat with some coffee.
My favorite one bowl dish are homemade oatmeal raisin cookies made with soft bananas, oats, and cinnamon. A handful of butterscotch chips instead of raisins satisfy a sweet tooth 🙂 I would love to give these a shot on the baking griddle!
My favorite one bowl recipe is meatloaf. I just mix everything in the baking pan and place it in the oven.
OMG great timing! I just had to say goodbye to my cumbersome electric skillet as well!
My favorite one bowl dish is pumpkin bread – yum!
love one bowl cakes!!
I try to make many recipes ‘one bowl’—fewer dishes to do!
Would love to try the baking steel–I use my lefse griddle now:)
I’ve always preferred waffles to pancakes, but I’m always hunting for a great pancake recipe that will change my mind. I don’t know why I have such hope for pancakes when waffles do the job of loading me with carbs in the morning just as well, but there it is.
Adding this to my list – possibly bumping it to the top as it looks so easy. I do wish I had a great griddle for it though; I’ll have to check out this baking steel griddle you mention. Or just cross my fingers for the giveaway! 🙂 Would it work at all with electric stoves or is it more suited for the flame?
I do have a question about the pancakes, though. If you wanted to add mix-ins like blueberries or chocolate/peanut butter chips, when would you suggest doing so? After it’s all mixed together at the end, right before cooking them? Any other suggestions for mix-ins?
Hi Krystal,
The griddle is best suited for gas stoves, but my stove is electric with a flat top, and it works beautifully. Andris, the owner, says the strike zone is an electric-coil stove, so if you have that, I would be wary using the griddle on top of the coils.
And yes, at the very end, last step, add the mix-ins. Hope that helps!
@alexandra, what do you mean the strike zone is an electric coil?
Hi Joseph — I think the Baking Steel Griddle is too heavy for electric coils, and so it’s not advised to use it on this surface. I have an electric stovetop but it’s one of those flat surfaces so the coils are protected. If you want to find out for sure, however, just email Andris: Andris@bakingsteel.com He is so nice and will get back to you promptly.
Not sure if this even counts as “one bowl” but I’ve been making gazpacho all summer and I make the entire thing in the blender. The only other thing I have to wash is a cutting board and a knife.Winning!
One bowl brownies! Always a quick go to dessert.
I had a cast iron griddle for my gas cooktop long ago – left it for the new homeowner 🙁 Things haven’t been the same since.
I am INTRIGUED by the muffin recipe – where can I find it and the rounds?.
I like this recipe for English muffins: https://alexandracooks.com/2013/05/23/english-muffins-with-simple-strawberry-jam-%E2%80%A2-wren-%E2%80%A2-when-my-mother-comes-to-visit/
And here are some rings: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001VQIHW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0001VQIHW&linkCode=as2&tag=alexandrask06-20
The pancakes look awesome! My favorite one bowl dish is brownies.
Thank you so much for the 1-bowl rethink of this recipe. I love shortcuts in recipes for both technique and clean-up and I’ve had a strong hankering for homemade pancakes. I use my baking steel religiously for Jim Lahey pizza. Would love to try the griddle.
One bowl scones! 🙂 Easy and satisfying-nothing makes the house smell better!